Engaging bloggers in Cote d'Ivoire to promote access to quality information on sexual and reproductive health

Summary:

EngenderHealth is implementing an innovative project in Cote d'Ivoire aimed at creating an enabling environment for sexual and reproductive health rights (SRHR) with a focus on comprehensive abortion care (CAC). This project, funded by the Packard Foundation, seeks to amplify the voices of Ivorian women and girls on social media in order to promote access to SRHR services. Through this project, EngenderHealth has engaged and trained a network of bloggers (N=30) in SRHR information and services in order to increase awareness among young Ivoirians. In October 2019, these bloggers collaborated with EngenderHealth to post content on three well-known Facebook pages (Case Maternelle, Tsensuel and DocteurEdvin) to address key SRHR topic areas, including early pregnancy, access to contraceptive services, dangers associated with illegal abortions, and access to CAC. EngenderHealth also established and trained a taskforce comprised of youth activists to monitor the content and respond to any inaccurate or negative commentary from community members. Within just a few months, the bloggers have reached more than 300,000 followers with their messaging. While the project is still in its infancy, EngenderHealth is actively monitoring results and tracking lessons learned to share with the broader SRHR community.

Background/Objectives:

While national abortion rate estimates do not exist in Cote d'Ivoire, limited empirical evidence suggests that women's use of abortion to control fertility in the event of unintended pregnancies is common. Moreover, abortion-related complications account for approximately 18% of maternal deaths in Cote d'Ivoire. As the growing majority of young Ivoirians are now accessing social media, EngenderHealth designed and is implementing an innovative digital campaign to improve knowledge, change negative perceptions, and promote positive dialogues around sexual and reproductive health rights (SRHR), including particularly the right to comprehensive abortion care (CAC).

Description of Intervention and/or Methods/Design:

In September 2019, bloggers from youth and women's organizations and the National Mother and Child Health Programme (NMCHP) (N=30) participated in a values clarification and co-creation workshop aimed at building their capacity to identify and address SRHR issues, including specifically barriers to CAC. Participants in these workshops developed tailored, youth-appropriate messages related to key SRHR topics. In October 2019, these bloggers collaborated with EngenderHealth to post content on various SRHR topic areas including early pregnancy, accessibility of contraceptive services, and availability of CACon three well-known Facebook pages (Case Maternelle, Tsensue and DocteurEdvi). EngenderHealth also formed and trained a taskforce comprised of youth activists from local organizations. Using an online alert tool, the taskforce routinely monitors the quality of the messaging posted by the bloggers and removes or addresses any negative comments or misinformation provided by community members in response to the blogs.

Results/Lessons Learned:

Results from this initiative are still in their infancy. However, having garnered more than 300,000 active followers in just a few months, the project has demonstrated the potential to reach a wide audience. Initial findings also suggest a highly engaged audience, with one blog receiving 86 comments from different readers, 100 shares, and more than 10,000 likes. EngenderHealth is also tracking additional data on the types of comments and discussions generated in response to the blogging initiative as well as the success of the youth taskforce in monitoring these activities. For example, the project is tracking retweets, shares, and comments in order to identify the positive SRHR statements and messages that demonstrate the most influence and that most widely resonate with the Ivorian youth. EngenderHealth is also collecting routine project monitoring data and documenting any other evidence that illustrates project success and challenges to inform future programming.

Discussion/Implications for the Field:

The use of blogging as a means to change perceptions and attitudes towards SRHR is still new in Cote d'Ivoire. Anticipated challenges include cultural sensitivities around abortion and the use of contraceptives services by youth. EngenderHealth also recognizes that the approach will only reach youth with internet access. Therefore, any future recommendations will need to consider how this approach can be scaled up to reach marginalized populations without internet access. EngenderHealth will share project learnings with the broader community to inform other interventions in the field of social and behavioral change communication on SRHR issues.

Abstract submitted by:
Lucette Andoh - EngenderHealth
Nènè Fofana Cisse - EngenderHealth
Karna Eugene Kone - EngenderHealth